On September 10, presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump faced off in a presidential debate hosted by ABC News in Philadelphia. The stakes were high, due to the proximity to the election on November 5, and the result from the last debate not too long ago, where Joe Biden’s disastrous performance caused the end of his candidacy.
As the debate began, it was the first time the two presidential candidates actually met in person. Kamala Harris set the tone of the debate by marching to Trump’s lectern with a greeting. Over the next few minutes, Harris took control with the debate by enraging Trump, through pointed claims such as one of Trump’s dwindling rally attendance. She also portrayed Trump as an irrational candidate, calling him “weak and wrong” and frequently looking towards him and laughing while Trump talked into the camera. Trump took the bait, and frequently took time to respond to Harris instead of answering questions that highlighted his own policies.
Trump continued by making several controversial statements throughout the evening, including false claims about Haitian immigrants “eating the dogs” in Springfield, Ohio, and that Democrats advocate for abortion after birth. Moderator David Muir interjected in both cases, pointing out the lack of evidence for the former assertion, and that murdering a baby is illegal in all fifty states. These moderator fact checks, absent in Trump’s previous debate with Biden on CNN, increasingly agitated Trump. Harris was also not fact checked by the moderators during the entire length of the debate.
Harris seized the opportunity to respond, emphasizing the extremity of Trump’s remarks: “talk about extreme,” she said.
Harris presented many of her policies, such as the protection of the right to abortion, tax breaks for small businesses and parents, and a first-time home buyer credit on down payments. “I have a plan,” she said. On the other side of the stage, Trump was left saying that he had “concepts of a plan” for repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act. Trump also attempted to connect Harris to Biden’s less popular administration, but Harris responded, “You’re not running against Joe Biden. You’re running against me.”
As the debate continued, another point of contention was the candidates’ foreign policy. Trump claimed that Harris supports Hamas in its war against Israel, saying that “Israel will not exist within two years from now” if Harris won the election. On the other hand, Harris contended that Trump is closely connected to foreign autocrats, specifically noting Trump’s association with Viktor Orbán of Hungary and Vladimir Putin of Russia. In response to Trump’s non-answer on whether he would support Ukraine in its war against Russia, Harris asserted that another Trump presidency would result in an expansion of Russia’s armed conflicts, appealing to Pennsylvania’s significant Polish-American population.
After the debate, Harris was declared the winner by a large consensus in polls by major news outlets. Over the week after the debate, Harris also slightly widened her lead in election polls nationally. Trump, due to his disappointing performance, was noticeably reluctant to debate with Harris again, despite being seemingly eager to before the debate started.
